Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps the Department could furnish the committee with whatever statistics and data it has on this. The committee will take a further look at it. We may call Mr. Hession and his colleagues in separately to go through this specific issue again. It is the one issue that I flagged up in the review of the documentation. It seems to be a bizarrely low threshold. I take on board what Mr. Hession is saying in relation to the alteration in the calculation of maintenance from this point forward. I have another question for Mr. Hession, wearing his assistant secretary hat, and he may not be able to give me an answer today. That is okay, but he might come back to the committee on it. Is this figure or a similar figure used in terms of disregards in any other aspect of social welfare or in any other aspect of the calculation of the one-parent family payment? While hopefully it will no longer be an issue here or it will only be a relatively small issue here, is this figure or a similar figure used in other calculations in social welfare? The reality is that if it has not been addressed in three decades and housing costs have skyrocketed since, undue hardship is being put on families. It needs to be radically reformed very urgently in the forthcoming budget. The Department might come back to us on that.

Second, from the evidence that we have heard today it is very clear that there is now an urgent need for clarification in terms of maintenance agreements where there is an agreement in place and a payment is being made. There is a need for clarity on what is spousal maintenance and what is child maintenance. One of the recommendations I think the committee should now consider on foot of this is that the Minister should engage or seek a tender from the family mediation service to assist parents in receipt of this payment in having that clarified for them. It would make things easier from an administration point of view. From the Department's point of view, it would facilitate revenue in terms of the revenue aspect of it. It would also assist one-parent families in having clarity. I suggest that the Department should seek a tender from the family mediation service to perform the service specifically for this cohort of people so that we have clarity for everyone's benefit in relation to it.

I note again the point Deputy Ó Cuív made regarding savings to the State. Many people who argue that different payments should be means-tested, including child benefit, which comes to mind quite regularly, should take note of the cost and savings involved because this is a real issue. I wish to turn to the fourth point in the submission, the cost to the Exchequer. The potential cost to the State in relation to this is €10.1 million per annum due to the potential inflow of new customers and increase in payments and an increase in payments for existing customers. However, there is no consideration in that calculation of the additional potential incentive for one-parent families to take up additional part-time employment, which would reduce the liability on the State and increase the amount of PRSI taken in. That is not included in the calculation. It will be a factor - how big I do not know - but it should be acknowledged that it will, I hope, help some one-parent families to break out of that cycle of poverty.

Related to that is the €165 exemption for a one-parent family payment recipient to take up employment and the clawback of 50% after that. Deputy Ó Cuív articulated the point well that the wealthiest people pay tax at 40%, yet we ask one-parent family payment recipients to pay tax at 50% in relation to their income. It is on gross income, so it is potentially taxable as well. That €165 threshold has not been increased in a number of years. The reality is that the national minimum wage has increased since then. Will the witnesses clarify for the committee when it was last increased and the change in the national minimum wage since then? The witnesses may not have those figures to hand but perhaps they could furnish them to the committee afterwards. This is also an aspect that should be considered in the context of budget discussions. This committee is very conscious of the need to try to ensure that we can break that cycle of poverty for one-parent families, both in terms of the current generation and the generation to come. There is also an issue of helping these parents - usually women - to get back into the workforce, even if it is only one or two hours a week. It is not just the income aspect, there is a huge psychological boost in terms of confidence for parents getting back into the workforce. It not only benefits them but benefits that whole family and has knock-on, intergenerational impacts as well. We have an economy in which there is full employment, and, hopefully, opportunities to get flexible work. With the delivery of broadband to every home in Ireland there are other opportunities for flexible employment. We need to ensure that one-parent families are in a position to capitalise on that for the intergenerational benefits, as well as the esteem and financial benefits.